Controlling the cold collision shift in high precision atomic interferometry

We present a new method based on a transfer of population by adiabatic passage that allows one to prepare cold atomic samples with a well-defined ratio of atomic density and atom number. This method is used to perform a measurement of the cold collision frequency shift in a laser cooled cesium clock at the percent level, which makes the evaluation of the cesium fountain accuracy at the 10(-16) level realistic. With improvements, the adiabatic passage would allow measurements of density-dependent phase shifts at the 10(-3) level in high precision experiments.     

Adiabatic beam buncher for plasma accelerators

An adiabatic free-electron laser wiggler for electron beam bunching is described. A free-electron laser naturally bunches an electron beam. When the beam is trapped adiabatically, the emittance of the bunched beam is decreased significantly compared with abrupt trapping. For a 57-period two-meter buncher having poleface magnetic field of 2 T and 10 GW of 100 μm radiation, adiabatic trapping reduces the final emittance by a factor of three     

Non-Abelian gauge potentials for ultracold atoms with degenerate dark states

We show that the adiabatic motion of ultracold, multilevel atoms in spatially varying laser fields can give rise to effective non-Abelian gauge fields if degenerate adiabatic eigenstates of the atom-laser interaction exist. A pair of such degenerate dark states emerges, e.g., if laser fields couple three internal states of an atom to a fourth common one under pairwise two-photon-resonance conditions. For this so-called tripod scheme we derive general conditions for truly non-Abelian gauge potentials and discuss special examples. In particular we show that using orthogonal laser beams with orbital angular momentum an effective magnetic field can be generated that has a monopole component.     

Adiabatic population transfer in effective three-level systems driven by laser beams

The population transfer in effective three-state systems driven by laser beams has been studied based on the theory of Lewis－Riesenfeld Hermitian invariants in the full- and partial-adiabatic approximations. A strict formulation of adiabatic conditions is given, and a new adiabatic condition for inducing a complete population transfer is found.     

Predissociation and the vibrational spectrum of molecular oxygen in an intense laser field. A Schumann-Runge band interval

The probabilities of predissociation and vibronic transitions between the states of the oxygen molecule in the Schumann-Runge band in the presence of a strong laser field are examined. The interaction of the molecule with the laser field is described using the rotating wave approximation. The predissociation probabilities for the avoided crossing of two adiabatic molecular terms are calculated within the framework of the Landau-Zener model. The energies of the vibrational states in the laser field are determined by diagonalization of the adiabatic Hamiltonian in the harmonic oscillator basis set. The predissociation thresholds are determined and the Franck-Condon factors are calculated as functions of the frequency and intensity of the external electromagnetic field.     

A numerical investigation of occurrence conditions and line broadening effects for a rapid adiabatic passage process

Rapid adiabatic passage processes are discussed for a two-level system. Attention is paid to the transition from Rabi oscillations to adiabatic following. For the latter case the absence of power broadening is demonstrated. Effects of two-laser fields are investigated, and applied to molecular beams crossing the laser radiation near to an intracavity focus.     

Intensity stabilization of dye laser radiation by saturated amplification

A novel scheme is proposed for stabilizing the intensity of a fluctuating laser source, using a partly saturated high gain traveling wave laser amplifier with a nonsaturable absorber distributed in the amplifying medium. Calculations for homogeneously broadened laser gain band in an adiabatic approximation are presented, which indicate that the stabilization factor can be increased by several orders of magnitude with the help of the absorber. An experiment is reported in which a two-stage dye laser amplifier with inserted attenuator, pumped by a nitrogen laser, is used to amplify and stabilize the intensity of an ultra-narrowband repetitively pulsed dye laser. The output intensity changes by less than a factor of four when the input is changed over three orders of magnitude. Work supported by the U.S. Office of Naval Research, Contract No. N00014-67-A-0112-0071, and by a Grant from the Research Development Fund, Stanford University. On leave from the Laboratorio de Elettronica Quantistica del CNR di Milano, Milano, Italy.     

Creation and measurement of a coherent superposition of quantum states

We demonstrate experimental techniques for creating and measuring a coherent superposition of two degenerate atomic states with equal amplitudes in metastable neon. Starting from state (3)P(0), we create adiabatically a coherent superposition of the magnetic sublevels M=+/-1 of the state (3)P(2) using a tripod stimulated Raman adiabatic passage scheme. The measurement is based on the coupling of the levels (3)P(2)<-->(3)P(1) by a linearly polarized laser, followed by the detection of the population in the (3)P(2)(M=+/-2) states as a function of the polarization angle of that laser.     

Time reversible evolution via nonadiabatic coupling in adiabatic dark subspace

We propose a method for the creation of arbitrary superposition of N atomic states using generalized stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP) techniques with laser fields coupling each one of N lower states to a single upper state in a (N+1)-level atomic system. (N-1) dark states that are composed of N lower states span a dark subspace. In the adiabatic limit, the dark and bright subspaces are decoupled, thus the nonadiabatic interaction within this dark subspace dominates the evolution of the system. Different from general methods to create our required coherent superposition state, in a reverse way, here we consider the required state as the starting point of evolution dynamics, and utilize laser fields to drive it into a single lower state step by step. Time reverse pulses of laser fields return the single lower state back to our required coherent superposition state based on time reversal symmetry. In principle, the computationally simple method allows the case with a large value of N. Based on the STIRAP techniques, it is robust against small variations of parameters of laser pulses and is immune to spontaneous radiation.     

Efficient population transfer by delayed pulses despite coupling ambiguity

In traditional schemes of multilevel multilaser excitation, each laser pulse interacts with only one pair of states, and the rotating wave approximation (RWA) is applicable. Here we study the population transfer process in a three-state system when each of the two lasers interacts with each of the pair of states and when the Rabi frequencies characterizing the interaction strengths of the system are comparable to or larger than the difference of the transition frequencies. We show that complete and robust population transfer is possible under conditions more general than those hitherto considered necessary for stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP) or for successive π pulses. Using adiabatic Floquet theory we show that successful population transfer can be interpreted as adiabatic passage by means of a transfer state which connects the initial and final states. The Floquet picture offers a convenient interpretation of the population transfer as accompanied by multiple absorption of photons from or emission into the laser fields.     

Full Quantum Theory of Transient-State Electromagnetically Induced Transparency

We develop a full quantum theory of transient-state electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in thevapor of three-level A-type atoms interacting with probe and coupling lasers. As applications of the full quantum theory,we show that transient-state EIT medium exhibits normal dispersion and find that group velocities of both coupling andprobe lasers are greatly reduced. It is shown that the group velocity of the probe laser in the transient-state EIT case isequal to that in the adiabatic EIT case and that the coupling laser group velocity in the transient-state EIT is generallyless than that in the adiabatic EIT.     

Positivity violation and initial slips in open systems

Master equations without Lindblad form can in principle violate the positivity of the density operator. However, when such a master equation arises through systematic adiabatic elimination of fast variables from underlying microscopic dynamics, the violation can at worst arise on time scales one has coarsegrained over when performing the adiabatic elimination and can thus simply be ignored. Examples of non-Lindblad master equations are shown to arise for the Ornstein Uhlenbeck process both at high and low temperatures and for a single-mode laser operated near threshold.     

Full Quantum Theory of Transient-State Electromagnetically Induced Transparency

We develop a full quantum theory of transient-state electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in the vapor of three-level A-type atoms interacting with probe and coupling lasers. As applications of the full quantum theory, we show that transient-state EIT medium exhibits normal dispersion and find that group velocities of both coupling and probe lasers are greatly reduced. It is shown that the group velocity of the probe laser in the transient-state EIT case is equal to that in the adiabatic EIT case and that the coupling laser group velocity in the transient-state EIT is generally less than that in the adiabatic EIT.     

Generation of atomic entangled states in a bi-mode cavity via adiabatic passage

We propose schemes to prepare atomic entangled states in a bi-mode cavity via stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP) and fractional stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (f-STIRAP) techniques. Our scheme should be realizable in the near future because of the existence of all experimental ingredients. Our numerical simulation shows we can entangle the atoms with high fidelities by choosing proper laser pulses.     

Arbitrary quantum superposition state for three-level system using oscillating dark states

An method for adiabatic population transfer and the preparation of an arbitrary quantum superposition state using the oscillating dark states (ODS) in atomic system is presented. Quantum state of a three-level Λ configuration atomic system finally evolves into the same time-dependent state, and oscillates periodically between two ground levels under evolving adiabatic conditions when two pairs of classical detuning laser fields drive the system into the ODS forcedly, whatever the initial states of the system are. The decoherence of the ODS evolution is greatly suppressed and the oscillation is very stable, therefore adiabatic population transfer and the preparation of an arbitrary quantum superposition state of atomic system can be completed accurately and conveniently.     

Broadband adiabatic conversion of light polarization

A broadband technique for robust adiabatic rotation and conversion of light polarization is proposed. It uses the analogy between the equation describing the polarization state of light propagating through an optically anisotropic medium and the Schrödinger equation describing coherent laser excitation of a three-state atom. The proposed technique is analogous to the stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP) technique in quantum optics; it is applicable to a wide range of frequencies and it is robust to variations in the propagation length and the rotary power.     

Theoretical Studies of the Laser Induced Plasma Profile Near the Critical Density Region for an Adiabatic Plasma Model

A theoretical study of the variation of density and flow velocity due to pondermotive force, near critical density region of a laser – produced plasma, obeying an adiabatic pressure law is reported. The ion-continuity, momentum and wave equations are solved in a steady state. The density and flow velocity as a function of incident laser intensity are calculated and plotted for both underdense and overdense regions for adiabatic exponent γ = 4/3, 5/3, 2. The velocity decreases and density increases in the overdense region and velocity increase and density decreases in the underdense region with the increase of larger power at sonic point. It is found that the velocity is subsonic in the overdense region and supersonic in the underdense region. The nature of variation is similar to the isothermal model.     

Coherent excitation of Rydberg atoms in an ultracold gas

We demonstrate two schemes for the coherent excitation of Rydberg atoms in an ultracold gas of rubidium atoms employing the three-level ladder system 5S_1/2-5P_3/2-n?_j. In the first approach rapid adiabatic passage with pulsed laser fields yields Rydberg excitation probabilities of 90% in the center of the laser focus. In a second experiment two-photon Rydberg excitation with continuous-wave fields is applied which results in Rabi oscillations between the ground and Rydberg state. The experiments represent a prerequisite for the control of interactions in ultracold Rydberg gases and the application of ultracold Rydberg gases for quantum information processing.     

Kinetic behavior of cold 87Rb atoms in integrating sphere

Kinetic behavior of cold ⁸⁷Rb atoms in integrating sphere is presented under adiabatic release. Decay time of cold atom cloud is deduced by calculation of residual cold atom number evolution under adiabatic release and agrees well with our experimental observation. Number evolutions of residual cold atoms under different kinds of acceleration have been studied in detail. Sequence laser pulse cooling is key technique for the successive operation of cold atom clock. The process of laser pulse cooling is numerically simulated and fitted with experiments, optimized distribution of cooling and dead time to get enough cold atoms is put forward to satisfy the demand of cold atom clock.